In their 15-year history, the Columbus Blue Jackets have made the playoffs twice, during the 2008-09 season where they exorcised the demons of sub-mediocrity and qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs under the tutelage of future Hall of Fame coach Ken Hitchcock. Then...
A new regular season is almost upon us for the 2015-15 National Hockey League (NHL) season and I offer I offer my predictions for the regular season finish for the NHL’s Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference. Much like last year’s predictions, although I...
Columbus Blue Jackets General Manager stated that improving his blueline was tantamount, given his glut of forwards and, in particular, at the center position during the off-season – trades and via the Free Agency route. Kekalainen did make an impact trade prior to...
Although it wasn’t for the lack of trying, Columbus Blue Jackets General Manager (GM) Jarmo Kekalainen did obtain two 1st Round draft selections in the 2015 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft. Kekalainen was able to solidify a glaring gap in the Blue Jackets...
The 2015 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft is scheduled for June 26th, 2015 at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida. The upstart Columbus Blue Jackets, fresh off of a spectacular finish after being ravaged by injuries for the majority of the season;...
The Washington Capitals, who saw their playoff streak of seven consecutive playoff appearances, end at the end of the 2013-14 season. Many pundits believed that the Caps would struggle in the new Metropolitan Division versus the dominance they held in the old...
To say that the Columbus Blue Jackets have experienced a hardscrabble season of adversity, particularly with injuries is to be kind. They are the runaway winner of the not-so-dubious distinction of ‘Man Games Lost to Injury’, a statistic that the National Hockey...
Last week, I wrote an article which was a trade primer for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Unbeknownst to myself and every other observer, Blue Jackets General Manager (GM) Jarmo Kekalainen, as he did in 2013, had other, additional ideas in mind to shape the Blue Jackets...
For those of us stats nerds – I’m a Certified Public Accountant (CPA), something I utilize for my ‘day job’ – there is a valuable resource to determine each National Hockey League (NHL) teams mathematical chances for qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs. The...
The Columbus Blue Jackets are in a precarious position: they are mathematically still in contention for the Stanley Cup playoffs although the odds to do so, with each loss, dwindle as was the case, last night in a loss to the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1 dropping their...
The Washington Capitals, one of the National Hockey League’s (NHL’s) greatest anomalies over the past several seasons, a team with hockey’s most lethal sniper in Alexander Ovechkin, one of the NHL’s top pivots/playmakers in Nicklas Backstrom, a dynamic, scoring...
The NHL All-Star weekend continued with the annual Skills Competition in Nationwide Arena. Much to the delight of the Central Ohio fans, Team Foligno, captained by Columbus Blue Jackets forward Nick Foligno, prevailed over Team Toews, captained by Chicago Blackhawks...
The National Hockey League (NHL) convenes for their annual All-Star Game and weekend and, this season the gala is being held at Nationwide Arena, home of the NHL’s Columbus Blue Jackets. The annual event is a major coup` for Ohio’s capital city, allowing Columbus to...
It is often said that professional sports are, at times, a copycat endeavor. If there is a new way of doing something and it’s followed by success, other organizations try to copy it until eventually it is schemed to stop its success until something newer comes...
The Columbus Blue Jackets were sitting in a precarious position. After starting the season at 4-2-0, they went into a tailspin, going 2-13-2, thus appearing to solidly position themselves in the Jack Eichel or Connor McDavid sweepstakes, the two consensus...
The Columbus Blue Jackets have been ravaged by injuries, particularly to their key players. The list is long and has severely impacted their prospects of making the playoffs, particularly after a recent, horrid 0-7-1 slide, dropping their record to a NHL Draft...
A new era begins in New Jersey, this after the New Jersey Devils were led by arguably one of the greatest goalies in history in Martin Brodeur. Brodeur toiled for 21 seasons for the Devils and for many years, often carried a goal-impaired organization on his...
The 2013-14 season was a tumultuous one for the Philadelphia Flyers. It started with an 0-3-0 start which led to the firing of Peter Laviolette and the arrival of Craig Berube behind the Flyers bench. After an initial sluggish adjustment period to Berube and his new...
Like the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals, the Carolina Hurricanes made major managerial brass changes in the off-season. Longtime Canes General Manager (GM) Jim Rutherford retired, although the retirement period was a very short five weeks in duration...
Of the teams in the National Hockey League’s (NHL’s) Metropolitan Division, no team, besides the reigning division champions Pittsburgh Penguins, has had the seismic changes in their organizational brass (management) as have the Washington Capitals. Like the Penguins,...
Albeit a little after the regular season has started, with the season only a few weeks old, I offer my predictions for the regular season finish for the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Hockey League (NHL). Although I provide my...
Last spring, I met and interviewed Columbus Blue Jackets General Manager (GM) Jarmo Kekalainen as part of a two-part story on one of the most brilliant talent evaluators and development gurus in the history of the National Hockey League (NHL). I was unable to write...
Just when, for the first time, hope didn’t just appear to spring eternal, it appeared justified, the Columbus Blue Jackets were beset with a rash of injuries as well as a contract holdout from its first-line center Ryan Johansen. The list of injuries appears like a...
In a previous article, I outline the acrimonious contract strife that existed between the Columbus Blue Jackets and their young center, Ryan Johansen. Well, the Blue Jackets and Central Ohio's 'Doomsday Scenario' has finally come to an end. After a lengthy – 3½...
The Columbus Blue Jackets should currently be experiencing euphoria from experiencing what’s often phrased as ‘rarified air’. After all, they qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs for only the second time in their 14th seasons of existence with a franchise record in...
